Gross Value Added (GVA) - growth per head in sustainable tourism employment (c28)

• Sustainable tourism** is one of six sectors used to assess growth in employment in an area.  The six sectors are food and drink, creative industries (including digital), energy, financial and business services, life sciences, and sustainable tourism.
• This indicator reflects the Gross Value Added (GVA), i.e. economic value, generated by each person employed in the sustainable tourism sector. 

**Sustainable tourism relates to hotels and similar accommodation, holiday and other short-stay accommodation, camping grounds, and recreational vehicle parks and trailer parks. It includes restaurants and mobile food service activities, beverage serving activities, tour operator activities, other reservation service and related activities.  It also includes museum activities, operation of historical sites and buildings and similar visitor attractions, botanical and zoological gardens and nature reserve activities, operation of sports facilities, other sports activities (not including activities of racehorse owners), as well as activities of amusement parks and theme parks, and other amusement and recreation activities.

Why this matters

• Measuring GVA per head in sustainable tourism indicates how much economic value the sector generates per person, helping to show whether growth is genuinely boosting local economic growth.
• It shows whether tourism jobs and activity are contributing to higher‑value employment, how productive the sector is (the amount of economic output created per employee), how much value tourism work contributes to the local economy, and whether jobs in the sector support higher economic returns, rather than relying on low‑value or seasonal activity.

Latest performance

GVA (£) per head in sustainable tourism has fluctuated slightly in North Lanarkshire over the period of the reported data and from The Plan for North Lanarkshire baseline (as depicted in Figure 28a and also reflected in Figure 28b which shows the percentage year to year change in GVA per head).

• The effects of the pandemic can be seen in 2020 figures - with a 33% decrease in sustainable tourism employment in the national average (and also the comparative figure for the group of similar councils) compared to a 50% decrease in North Lanarkshire.  However, subsequent years show recovery that has remained more stable.
• The latest results for 2023 show a small -7.5% decrease in North Lanarkshire following a +5.7% increase the previous year.  This follows a significant 89% increase in 2021.
• The latest results show a decline from The Plan for North Lanarkshire baseline in terms of the GVA per head (£13,469 compared to £15,635).  But improvement in respect of the change from the previous year as at the baseline (-7.5% compared to -14.4%).

The latest results for North Lanarkshire in Figure 28a show a more stable position than both the national average and comparative average for the group of similar councils, which both show slightly more fluctuation from the previous year.

Figure 28a shows that North Lanarkshire is performing below the comparative average for the group of similar councils (£14,849), however there is a greater decline in the comparative average (-28%) from the previous year compared to North Lanarkshire (-7.5%).

It should be noted that the group of similar councils includes a number of cities, e.g. Glasgow and Dundee.

There is a time lag in the availability of these results with the most recent for 2023 being published in December 2025.

Impact of delivering The Plan for North Lanarkshire

Increasing GVA per head in sustainable tourism helps to boost local economic value - tourism drives economic activity, income generation, and regional development, increasing overall prosperity when value added per person rises. Sustainable and community-focused tourism ensures that increased GVA is shared across income groups, supporting inclusive growth across all communities.